WO2025043575A1

WO2025043575A1 - Quality of experience measurement collection on sidelink communication

Info

Publication number: WO2025043575A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/116004
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jianhua Liu; Qing Li; Shankar Krishnan; Hong Cheng
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2023-08-31
Filing date: 2023-08-31
Publication date: 2025-03-06
Anticipated expiration: 2026-02-28

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described that provide for user equipment (UE) collection and reporting of quality of experience (QoE) metrics for sidelink connections between the UE and one or more other UEs. A network entity may configure one or more UEs to provide QoE for sidelink communications, and one or more of the sidelink UEs may collect and report QoE measurements for the sidelink connection. One or more of the UEs may receive the QoE configuration and measure various associated parameters of the sidelink connection with one or more other UEs, and transmit the QoE measurement report to the network entity. A relay UE may also transmit the QoE configuration to the remote UE, receive a QoE measurement report from the remote UE, and transmit the QoE measurement report to the network.

Description

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE MEASUREMENT COLLECTION ON SIDELINK COMMUNICATION

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The following relates to wireless communication, including quality of experience measurement collection on sidelink communication.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power) . Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) , or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) . A wireless multiple-access communications system may include one or more base stations, each supporting wireless communication for communication devices, which may be known as user equipment (UE) .

In some wireless communications systems, a UE may communicate with one or more network entities via one or more network links (e.g., via a Uu interface) . In some systems, one or more UEs also may communicate directly with one or more other UEs via one or more sidelinks (e.g., via a PC5 interface) or peer-to-peer connections. Efficient techniques for monitoring sidelink communications may help to enhance the efficiency and reliability in wireless communications.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses that support quality of experience (QoE) measurement collection on sidelink communication. For example, the described techniques provide for user equipment (UE) collection and reporting of QoE metrics for sidelink connections between the UE and one or more other UEs. In some aspects, a network entity may configure one or more UEs to provide QoE for sidelink (e.g., via a PC5 interface) , and one or more of the sidelink UEs may collect and report QoE measurements for the sidelink connections. In some aspects, a relay UE may provide a relay connection to a remote UE, the relay UE may receive the QoE configuration and measure various associated parameters of the sidelink connection with the remote UE, and the relay UE may transmit the QoE measurement report to the network entity. In some aspects, the relay UE may also transmit the QoE configuration to the remote UE, receive a QoE measurement report from the remote UE, and transmit the QoE measurement report to the network. Techniques as discussed herein may be used for service-based QoE (e.g., where the network entity provides a remote UE ID with the QoE configuration) , or management-based QoE (e.g., where the network entity indicates the configuration applies to all capable remote UEs connected to a relay UE) configuration and reporting.

A method for wireless communication by a first UE is described. The method may include receiving signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE, obtaining a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the quality of experience measurement configuration, and transmitting a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of quality of experience measurements.

A first UE for wireless communication is described. The first UE may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to receive signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE, obtain a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the quality of experience measurement configuration, and transmit a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of quality of experience measurements.

Another first UE for wireless communication is described. The first UE may include means for receiving signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE, means for obtaining a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the quality of experience measurement configuration, and means for transmitting a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of quality of experience measurements.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive, at a first UE, signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE, obtain a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the quality of experience measurement configuration, and transmit a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of quality of experience measurements.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement configuration is received from a network entity using an access link connection, and the quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE is transmitted to the network entity using the access link connection. Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving signaling indicating that the quality of experience measurement configuration is applied for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection.

Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the quality of experience measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection. In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the second UE using the sidelink connection, the set of quality of experience measurements as measured at the second UE.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from an application layer at the first UE, the set of quality of experience measurements as measured at the application layer the first UE for the sidelink connection with the second UE. Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for providing a sidelink connection interface indication and the set of quality of experience measurements of the second UE to an access stratum layer of the first UE for transmission in the quality of experience measurement report.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the receiving may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from a network entity, a set of multiple radio access network visible quality of experience parameters associated with the quality of experience measurement report, and an indication that the set of multiple radio access network visible quality of experience parameters is associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE. In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements may include operations, features, means, or instructions for obtaining assistance information and a set of multiple radio access network visible quality of experience measurements from a relay UE.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the assistance information includes one or more of a sidelink connection flow ID, a sidelink bearer ID, an application ID, an application Internet protocol address, or any combinations thereof. Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for determining one or more quality of experience parameters based on the quality of experience measurement configuration, the one or more quality of experience parameters including one or more of a container identification, service type indication, radio resource control identification, or a UE identification of the second UE and transmitting the one or more quality of experience parameters to the second UE.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement configuration may include an indication of whether the first UE is to forward the configuration to one or more remote UEs, and the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium may include further operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the quality of experience measurement configuration to at least the second UE responsive to a determination that the second UE has a capability to provide quality of experience measurement reports.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements includes receiving, from the second UE, a quality of experience report container in a radio resource control message from the second UE using the sidelink connection and the transmitting the quality of experience measurement report includes transmitting the quality of experience report container to a network entity using an access link connection. In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements includes receiving, from the second UE, a radio access network visible quality of experience report in a radio resource control message from the second UE using the sidelink connection and the transmitting the quality of experience measurement report includes deriving assistance information associated with the quality of experience report and the identification of the second UE, and transmitting the quality of experience report and assistance information to a network entity using an access link connection, where the assistance information includes one or more of a resource allocation mode associated with the sidelink connection, a sidelink data radio bearer configuration, or a sidelink connection flow ID.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement report provides one or more of an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements is associated with direct communications with the second UE using the sidelink connection, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-2 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-3 UE-to-network relay for the second UE; an indication of a container associated with the set of quality of experience measurements, or an indication in a radio resource control signaling message that the quality of experience measurement report includes a radio access network visible set of quality of experience measurements.

A method for wireless communication by a network entity is described. The method may include transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported and receiving from the first UE, a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of quality of experience measurements.

A network entity for wireless communication is described. The network entity may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to transmit, to a first UE, signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported and receive from the first UE, a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of quality of experience measurements.

Another network entity for wireless communication is described. The network entity may include means for transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported and means for receiving from the first UE, a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of quality of experience measurements.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to transmit, to a first UE, signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported and receive from the first UE, a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of quality of experience measurements.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement configuration is transmitted to the first UE using an access link connection, and the quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE is received from the first UE using the access link connection. Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting signaling indicating that the quality of experience measurement configuration is for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates that the first UE is to transmit the quality of experience measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection. In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the set of quality of experience measurements is measured at an application layer at the first UE or the second UE for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE. In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement report includes an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements is associated with the second UE.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the transmitting the quality of experience measurement configuration may include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the first UE, a set of multiple radio access network visible quality of experience parameters associated with the quality of experience measurement report, and an indication that the set of multiple radio access network visible quality of experience parameters is associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE. In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement report includes assistance information and a set of multiple radio access network visible quality of experience measurements of the first UE, and where the assistance information includes one or more of a sidelink connection flow ID, a sidelink bearer ID, an application ID, an application Internet protocol address, or any combinations thereof. In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement configuration includes an indication of whether the first UE is to forward the configuration to one or more remote UEs.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the quality of experience measurement report provides one or more of an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements is associated with direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-2 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-3 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication of a container associated with the set of quality of experience measurements, or an indication in a radio resource control signaling message that the quality of experience measurement report includes a radio access network visible set of quality of experience measurements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system that supports quality of experience (QoE) measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a portion of a wireless communications system with sidelink communications that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 3 through 7 show examples of process flows that support QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 8 and 9 show block diagrams of devices that support QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 12 and 13 show block diagrams of devices that support QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 16 through 23 show flowcharts illustrating methods that support QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In some examples of wireless communications, a wireless device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) may communicate with a network node (which may also be or be referred to as a network entity herein) via a direct link or access link (e.g., via a Uu interface) . The UE may also communicate with a second UE via a sidelink (e.g., via a PC5 interface) . The second UE may also have a direct link with the network node, or may not have a direct link with the network node in which case communications with the network may be relayed through one or more other UEs. In some cases, communications via sidelink connections may provide content to a user, and delivery of such content may have associated quality metrics. For example, quality of experience (QoE) information collection may be used in some networks to provide detailed information at session level on a number of UEs. The QoE of an end user service may provide an operator with QoE information that may not be available from physical layer performance measurements in the network (e.g., from channel state information (CSI) based measurement reports) . QoE information may be collected at the application layer of the UE and used at the network for analysis, key parameter indicator (KPI) calculations, or both (e.g., to ensure extended reality (XR) type applications running at a UE meet performance targets) . Traditional QoE metrics may be provided for connections using the access link (e.g., Uu interface) , but there is currently no mechanism for providing this information for sidelink connections in which two or more UEs directly communicate with each other. Maintaining QoE targets for sidelink connections may be desirable to ensure applications are meeting performance targets, and thus techniques for QoE configuration and reporting of sidelink connections are desirable.

In accordance with various aspects, techniques are provided to enable QoE measurement collection for sidelink communication. In some aspects, a network entity may configure a UE to provide QoE for sidelink connections (e.g., PC5 connections) , and for sidelink UEs to collect and report QoE measurements for the sidelink connections. For cases where a UE may provide a relay connection to a remote UE, the relay UE may receive the QoE configuration and measure various associated parameters of the sidelink connection with the remote UE, and the relay UE may transmit the QoE measurement report to the network. The relay UE may also transmit the QoE configuration to the remote UE, receive the QoE measurement report from the remote UE, and transmit the QoE measurement report to the network. The QoE measurement report may include one or more indications associated with the sidelink connection and related UEs, such as a sidelink bearer ID, PC5 flow ID (PFI) , an application ID of the associated application at the UE, an IP address of the application at the UE, or any combinations thereof. In some aspects, described procedures may be used for service-based QoE (e.g., where the network entity provides a remote UE ID with the QoE configuration) , or management-based QoE (e.g., where the network entity indicates the configuration applies to all capable remote UEs connected to a relay UE) configuration and reporting. The QoE measurement reports may include container-based reports (e.g., where the remote UE has an end-to-end connection with the network and the report container is forwarded by the relay UE without decoding its contents) , or RAN-visible QoE (RVQoE) reports (e.g., where the reported parameters are visible to the relay UE and serving network entity) .

Techniques as discussed herein may provide for enhanced reporting of service quality for end users, which may allow the network to ensure QoE targets are maintained for sidelink connections. In some cases, efficient signaling techniques may allow UEs to provide QoE reports to network entities for analysis and link maintenance, which may enhance end user experience.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to apparatus diagrams, process flows, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-APro network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a network operating in accordance with other systems and radio technologies, including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

The network entities 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communications system 100 and may include devices in different forms or having different capabilities. In various examples, a network entity 105 may be referred to as a network element, a mobility element, a radio access network (RAN) node, or network equipment, among other nomenclature. In some examples, network entities 105 and UEs 115 may wirelessly communicate via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) access link) . For example, a network entity 105 may support a coverage area 110 (e.g., a geographic coverage area) over which the UEs 115 and the network entity 105 may establish one or more communication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which a network entity 105 and a UE 115 may support the communication of signals according to one or more radio access technologies (RATs) .

The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of the wireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary, or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communications with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 or network entities 105, as shown in FIG. 1.

As described herein, a node of the wireless communications system 100, which may be referred to as a network node, or a wireless node, may be a network entity 105 (e.g., any network entity described herein) , a UE 115 (e.g., any UE described herein) , a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components, or another suitable processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a node may be a UE 115. As another example, a node may be a network entity 105. As another example, a first node may be configured to communicate with a second node or a third node. In one aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a UE 115. In another aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a network entity 105. In yet other aspects of this example, the first, second, and third nodes may be different relative to these examples. Similarly, reference to a UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like may include disclosure of the UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like being a node. For example, disclosure that a UE 115 is configured to receive information from a network entity 105 also discloses that a first node is configured to receive information from a second node.

In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or with one another, or both. For example, network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130 via one or more backhaul communication links 120 (e.g., in accordance with an S1, N2, N3, or other interface protocol) . In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via a backhaul communication link 120 (e.g., in accordance with an X2, Xn, or other interface protocol) either directly (e.g., directly between network entities 105) or indirectly (e.g., via a core network 130) . In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., in accordance with a midhaul interface protocol) or a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., in accordance with a fronthaul interface protocol) , or any combination thereof. The backhaul communication links 120, midhaul communication links 162, or fronthaul communication links 168 may be or include one or more wired links (e.g., an electrical link, an optical fiber link) , one or more wireless links (e.g., a radio link, a wireless optical link) , among other examples or various combinations thereof. A UE 115 may communicate with the core network 130 via a communication link 155.

One or more of the network entities 105 described herein may include or may be referred to as a base station 140 (e.g., a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an NR base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB or a giga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB) , a 5G NB, a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB) , a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology) . In some examples, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may be implemented in an aggregated (e.g., monolithic, standalone) base station architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single network entity 105 (e.g., a single RAN node, such as a base station 140) .

In some examples, a network entity 105 may be implemented in a disaggregated architecture (e.g., a disaggregated base station architecture, a disaggregated RAN architecture) , which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more network entities 105, such as an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) , or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN) ) . For example, a network entity 105 may include one or more of a central unit (CU) 160, a distributed unit (DU) 165, a radio unit (RU) 170, a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 175 (e.g., a Near-Real Time RIC (Near-RT RIC) , a Non-Real Time RIC (Non-RT RIC) ) , a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) 180 system, or any combination thereof. An RU 170 may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , or a transmission reception point (TRP) . One or more components of the network entities 105 in a disaggregated RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entities 105 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations) . In some examples, one or more network entities 105 of a disaggregated RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., a virtual CU (VCU) , a virtual DU (VDU) , a virtual RU (VRU) ) .

The split of functionality between a CU 160, a DU 165, and an RU 170 is flexible and may support different functionalities depending on which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, RF functions, and any combinations thereof) are performed at a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between a CU 160 and a DU 165 such that the CU 160 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the DU 165 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. In some examples, the CU 160 may host upper protocol layer (e.g., layer 3 (L3) , layer 2 (L2) ) functionality and signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) , service data adaption protocol (SDAP) , Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) ) . The CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170, and the one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170 may host lower protocol layers, such as layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU 160. Additionally, or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between a DU 165 and an RU 170 such that the DU 165 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the RU 170 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU 165 may support one or multiple different cells (e.g., via one or more RUs 170) . In some cases, a functional split between a CU 160 and a DU 165, or between a DU 165 and an RU 170 may be within a protocol layer (e.g., some functions for a protocol layer may be performed by one of a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by a different one of the CU 160, the DU 165, or the RU 170) . A CU 160 may be functionally split further into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. A CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u) , and a DU 165 may be connected to one or more RUs 170 via a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface) . In some examples, a midhaul communication link 162 or a fronthaul communication link 168 may be implemented in accordance with an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities 105 that are in communication via such communication links.

In wireless communications systems (e.g., wireless communications system 100) , infrastructure and spectral resources for radio access may support wireless backhaul link capabilities to supplement wired backhaul connections, providing an IAB network architecture (e.g., to a core network 130) . In some cases, in an IAB network, one or more network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) may be partially controlled by each other. One or more IAB nodes 104 may be referred to as a donor entity or an IAB donor. One or more DUs 165 or one or more RUs 170 may be partially controlled by one or more CUs 160 associated with a donor network entity 105 (e.g., a donor base station 140) . The one or more donor network entities 105 (e.g., IAB donors) may be in communication with one or more additional network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) via supported access and backhaul links (e.g., backhaul communication links 120) . IAB nodes 104 may include an IAB mobile termination (IAB-MT) controlled (e.g., scheduled) by DUs 165 of a coupled IAB donor. An IAB-MT may include an independent set of antennas for relay of communications with UEs 115, or may share the same antennas (e.g., of an RU 170) of an IAB node 104 used for access via the DU 165 of the IAB node 104 (e.g., referred to as virtual IAB-MT (vIAB-MT) ) . In some examples, the IAB nodes 104 may include DUs 165 that support communication links with additional entities (e.g., IAB nodes 104, UEs 115) within the relay chain or configuration of the access network (e.g., downstream) . In such cases, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., one or more IAB nodes 104 or components of IAB nodes 104) may be configured to operate according to the techniques described herein.

In the case of the techniques described herein applied in the context of a disaggregated RAN architecture, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured to support QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally, or alternatively, be performed by one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., IAB nodes 104, DUs 165, CUs 160, RUs 170, RIC 175, SMO 180) .

A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications (MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances, or vehicles, meters, among other examples.

The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relays as well as the network entities 105 and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.

The UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may wirelessly communicate with one another via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., an access link) using resources associated with one or more carriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of RF spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication links 125. For example, a carrier used for a communication link 125 may include a portion of a RF spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP) ) that is operated according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR) . Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information) , control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) component carriers. Communication between a network entity 105 and other devices may refer to communication between the devices and any portion (e.g., entity, sub-entity) of a network entity 105. For example, the terms “transmitting, ” “receiving, ” or “communicating, ” when referring to a network entity 105, may refer to any portion of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, a CU 160, a DU 165, a RU 170) of a RAN communicating with another device (e.g., directly or via one or more other network entities 105) .

Signal waveforms transmitted via a carrier may be made up of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) ) . In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may refer to resources of one symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, in which case the symbol period and subcarrier spacing may be inversely related. The quantity of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both) , such that a relatively higher quantity of resource elements (e.g., in a transmission duration) and a relatively higher order of a modulation scheme may correspond to a relatively higher rate of communication. A wireless communications resource may refer to a combination of an RF spectrum resource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., a spatial layer, a beam) , and the use of multiple spatial resources may increase the data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE 115.

The time intervals for the network entities 105 or the UEs 115 may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example, refer to a sampling period of T_s=1/ (Δf_max·N_f) seconds, for which Δf_max may represent a supported subcarrier spacing, and N_f may represent a supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms) ) . Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023) .

Each frame may include multiple consecutively-numbered subframes or slots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a quantity of slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable quantity of slots, and the quantity of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a quantity of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period) . In some wireless communications systems 100, a slot may further be divided into multiple mini-slots associated with one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may be associated with one or more (e.g., N_f) sampling periods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation.

A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI) . In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., a quantity of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally, or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) ) .

Physical channels may be multiplexed for communication using a carrier according to various techniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel may be multiplexed for signaling via a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET) ) for a physical control channel may be defined by a set of symbol periods and may extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of the carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of the UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 may monitor or search control regions for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate may refer to an amount of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs) ) associated with encoded information for a control information format having a given payload size. Search space sets may include common search space sets configured for sending control information to multiple UEs 115 and UE-specific search space sets for sending control information to a specific UE 115.

A network entity 105 may provide communication coverage via one or more cells, for example a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or other types of cells, or any combination thereof. The term “cell” may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a network entity 105 (e.g., using a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID) , a virtual cell identifier (VCID) , or others) . In some examples, a cell also may refer to a coverage area 110 or a portion of a coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over which the logical communication entity operates. Such cells may range from smaller areas (e.g., a structure, a subset of structure) to larger areas depending on various factors such as the capabilities of the network entity 105. For example, a cell may be or include a building, a subset of a building, or exterior spaces between or overlapping with coverage areas 110, among other examples.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by the UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider supporting the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower-powered network entity 105 (e.g., a lower-powered base station 140) , as compared with a macro cell, and a small cell may operate using the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may provide unrestricted access to the UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider or may provide restricted access to the UEs 115 having an association with the small cell (e.g., the UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG) , the UEs 115 associated with users in a home or office) . A network entity 105 may support one or multiple cells and may also support communications via the one or more cells using one or multiple component carriers.

In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) , enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) ) that may provide access for different types of devices.

In some examples, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) may be movable and therefore provide communication coverage for a moving coverage area 110. In some examples, different coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, but the different coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same network entity 105. In some other examples, the overlapping coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by different network entities 105. The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of the network entities 105 provide coverage for various coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or low complexity devices and may provide for automated communication between machines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication) . M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies that allow devices to communicate with one another or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay such information to a central server or application program that uses the information or presents the information to humans interacting with the application program. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enable automated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) . The UEs 115 may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communications may include private communication or group communication and may be supported by one or more services such as push-to-talk, video, or data. Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions may include prioritization of services, and such services may be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.

In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured to support communicating directly with other UEs 115 via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135 (e.g., in accordance with a peer-to-peer (P2P) , D2D, or sidelink protocol) . In some examples, one or more UEs 115 of a group that are performing D2D communications may be within the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) , which may support aspects of such D2D communications being configured by (e.g., scheduled by) the network entity 105. In some examples, one or more UEs 115 of such a group may be outside the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 or may be otherwise unable to or not configured to receive transmissions from a network entity 105. In some examples, groups of the UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may support a one-to-many (1: M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to each of the other UEs 115 in the group. In some examples, a network entity 105 may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In some other examples, D2D communications may be carried out between the UEs 115 without an involvement of a network entity 105.

In some systems, a D2D communication link 135 may be an example of a communication channel, such as a sidelink communication channel, between vehicles (e.g., UEs 115) . In some examples, vehicles may communicate using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, or some combination of these. A vehicle may signal information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergencies, or any other information relevant to a V2X system. In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system may communicate with roadside infrastructure, such as roadside units, or with the network via one or more network nodes (e.g., network entities 105, base stations 140, RUs 170) using vehicle-to-network (V2N) communications, or with both.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC) , which may include at least one control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management function (AMF) ) and at least one user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for the UEs 115 served by the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to IP services 150 for one or more network operators. The IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, Intranet (s) , an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) , or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service.

The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, which may be in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz) . Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, which may be referred to as clusters, but the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs 115 located indoors. Communications using UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared to communications using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed RF spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA) , LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology using an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. While operating using unlicensed RF spectrum bands, devices such as the network entities 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations using unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregation configuration in conjunction with component carriers operating using a licensed band (e.g., LAA) . Operations using unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, among other examples.

A network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of a network entity 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, antennas or antenna arrays associated with a network entity 105 may be located at diverse geographic locations. A network entity 105 may include an antenna array with a set of rows and columns of antenna ports that the network entity 105 may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may include one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally, or alternatively, an antenna panel may support RF beamforming for a signal transmitted via an antenna port.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagating along particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carried via the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device or receiving device, or with respect to some other orientation) .

The wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or PDCP layer may be IP-based. An RLC layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate via logical channels. A MAC layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer also may implement error detection techniques, error correction techniques, or both to support retransmissions to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, an RRC layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE 115 and a network entity 105 or a core network 130 supporting radio bearers for user plane data. A PHY layer may map transport channels to physical channels.

In accordance with various aspects, two or more UEs 115 may have sidelink connections using D2D communication links 135, and may support collection and reporting of QoE metrics for the sidelink connections. In some aspects, a network entity 115 may configure one or more UEs 115 to provide QoE for sidelink (e.g., via a PC5 interface) , and one or more of the sidelink UEs 115 may collect and report QoE measurements for the sidelink connections. Techniques as discussed herein may be used for service-based QoE (e.g., where the network entity 115 provides a remote UE ID with the QoE configuration) , or management-based QoE (e.g., where the network entity 115 indicates the configuration applies to all capable remote UEs 115 connected to a relay UE) configuration and reporting.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system 200 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 200 may implement or be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications system 100 as described in FIG. 1. For example, the wireless communications system 200 may include a network entity 105-a, a first UE 115-a, and a second UE 115-b, which may be examples of network entities 105 and UEs 115 as described with reference to FIG. 1. In some examples, the wireless communications system 200 may support multiple radio access technologies including 4G systems such as LTE systems, LTE-A systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, 5G systems which may be referred to as NR systems, 6G systems, or other systems. The wireless communications system 200 may support QoE measurement and reporting, and, in some examples, may promote wireless communications in which QoE targets are maintained for services provided via sidelink connections.

In the example of FIG. 2, the first UE 115-a and network entity 105-a may communicate via at least a first link 205, which may be an access link provided via a Uu interface. In the example of FIG. 2, the an access link is not present between the second UE 115-b and the network entity 105-a, but in other examples multiple different UEs 115 may have both access link and sidelink connections. In this example, the first UE 115-a and the second UE 115-b may also communicate via sidelink connection 210, which may be a D2D connection provided via a PC5 interface. In some cases, the network entity 105-a may convey configuration information to the first UE 115-a and the second UE 115-b related to QoE measurement collection and reporting. For example, the network entity 105-a may provide a QoE measurement configuration 215 to the first UE 115-a, and the first UE 115-a may provide a corresponding QoE measurement report 220 to the network entity 105-a.

As discussed herein, in some aspects the network entity 105-a may indicate that QoE measurements are to be collected. In some cases, a QoE management component (QMC) at the core network may activate QoE measurement and reporting, such as by using a signaling based QoE activation procedure. In such a procedure, an Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) entity at the core network may initiate the QoE measurement activation for a specific UE 115 via the core network, and further to the network entity 105-a (e.g., a gNB) . In other cases, a management based QoE activation procedure may be used in which the OAM sends one or more QoE measurement configurations to the network entity 105-a. In either activation procedure, the network entity 105-a may receive one or more QoE measurement configurations from the OAM or core network, where each QoE configuration may include, for example, a QMC configuration container (e.g., an XML file) , a QoE reference, a service type, an IP address (e.g., an MCE IP Address) , an area scope, a slice scope, minimization of drive-tests (MDT) alignment information, available RAN visible QoE (RVQoE) metrics, or any combinations thereof. The network entity 105-a may provide the QoE measurement configuration 215, for example, via RRC signaling (e.g., in a RRCReconfiguration message) and the configuration information may include the QMC configuration container (e.g., XML file) , an identification of the UE (e.g., a RRC ID provided by RRC parameter measConfigAppLayerID) , a service type for QoE reporting, or any combinations thereof. In some cases, a mapping between the UE identification (e.g., measConfigAppLayerID) and QoE reference is maintained in the network entity 105-a.

Based on the QoE measurement configuration 215, the first UE 115-a may provide one or more QoE measurement reports 220. In some cases, QoE measurements may be deactivated or released by the network. In some cases, the OAM may send a trigger to deactivate a list of QoE measurement collection job (s) . The deactivation of QoE measurement collection may be achieved by providing a list with QoE reference (s) , and the network entity 105-a may release one or multiple application layer measurement configurations via RRC signaling (e.g., in a RRCReconfiguration message) at any time. Additionally, in some cases if the first UE 115-a enters an idle state, it may release all of QoE measurement configurations. Upon receiving a release command, a RRC layer 245 at the first UE 115-a (or at any other UE 115 that receives a release command) may inform one or more upper layers (e.g., an application layer 235 or a NAS layer 240) to release the QoE measurement configuration.

The QoE measurement report 220 may include various QoE metrics that are collected in accordance with the QoE measurement configuration 215. The QoE measurement collection may be handled by the application layer 235 which may provide a QoE report container to the RRC layer 245. In some cases, application layer 235 measurement reports may be encapsulated in a transparent container in for transmission via RRC signaling (e.g., in a MeasurementReportAppLayer RRC message over a signaling radio bearer (SRB) such as SRB4) . The UE ID (e.g., measConfigAppLayerId) may be used to identify one application layer measurement configuration and report between the network entity 105-a and the first UE 115-a. The application layer measurement report may be forwarded by the network entity 105-a to the OAM together with the QoE reference. In some cases, segmentation of the RRC signaling (e.g., MeasurementReportAppLayer message) may be enabled by the network entity 105-a to allow the transmission of application layer measurement reports which exceeds a maximum size (e.g., a maximum PDCP SDU size) , and established RRC segmentation mechanisms may be applied.

The QoE measurement report 220 may indicate a QMC, where for each QMC there is one identifier. In the application layer 235 or MCE at an OAM server the QoE reference may be used to identify each QMC job, where the QoE reference may be globally unique (e.g., composed as: MCC+MNC+QMC ID) , and the QoE reference is included in application layer configuration container and report container. In the RRC layer 245, using the UE ID (e.g., measConfigAppLayerID) may be used to identify one QoE configuration, where the UE ID (e.g., measConfigAppLayerID) may be allocated by the network entity 105-a with 4-bits length, and for each UE 115 there is a one-to-one mapping between the UE ID and QoE reference, and the mapping is maintained in the network entity. The RRC layer 245 may forward the UE ID (e.g., measConfigAppLayerID) together with the QoE configuration container to the application layer 235, and the application layer 235 may deliver the UE ID together with the QoE report container, and the RRC layer 245 does not maintain the mapping between the UE ID (e.g., measConfigAppLayerID) and QoE reference. The network entity 105-a may determine the MCE address based on the received UE ID included in RRC report message, and forward the report accordingly.

In some aspects, the network entity 105-a may obtain one or more RVQoE measurements. In some cases, RVQoE measurements may be configured by the network entity 105-a, where a subset of QoE metrics are reported from the first UE 115-a (or any other UE) in a form readable by the network entity 105-a (e.g., an explicit information element (IE) readable by the network entity 105-a) . In some cases, a list of available RVQoE metrics (e.g., subset of the regular QoE metrics configured) may be received by the network entity 105-a from the OAM or core network. For example, for some streaming or virtual reality services, RVQoE metrics may include a buffer level and a playout delay for media startup. In cases where network entity 105-a is part of a split architecture, central unit (CU) may generate the RVQoE configuration. In some aspects, RVQoE and regular QoE (e.g., RAN-transparent container-based QoE) may be configured together or separately. In cases where RVQoE is configured separately, it may be configured after configuring legacy QoE, and the network entity 105-a may release a list of RVQoE configurations while not releasing the corresponding regular QoE configurations. If the regular QoE configuration is released, the corresponding RVQoE configuration is released as well. As indicated, the RVQoE configuration can include, at least, one or more RAN visible QoE metrics to be reported, service type (s) , and a RRC identifier (e.g., measConfigAppLayerID) . After receiving the RVQoE measurement configuration, the UE RRC layer 245 may forward the configuration to the application layer 235, indicating the service type and the RRC identifier. In some cases, multiple simultaneous RVQoE measurements can be configured at one or more UEs 115. In cases where RVQoE is configured, the QoE measurement report 220 may be provided with RVQoE measurements with a reporting periodicity different from the reporting periodicity of regular QoE. If there is no reporting periodicity defined in the RVQoE configuration, the RVQoE reports may be sent together with regular QoE reports. The PDU session ID (s) corresponding to the service that is subject to QoE measurements may also be reported by UEs 115 along with the RVQoE measurement results.

As discussed herein, traditional systems provide that QoE measurement is collected only by those applications transmitted over an access link (e.g., over the Uu path) . For those applications transmitted over a sidelink connection 210 between the first UE 115-a and the second UE 115-b, a QoE reporting mechanism has not been provided, and thus traditional services provided via sidelink, such as via a sidelink connection 210, may not be able to be adjusted based on QoE information to improve user experience. Various aspects discussed herein provide that a sidelink QoE configuration 225 and a sidelink QoE report 230 may be exchanged via sidelink connection 210. Further, information from the sidelink QoE report 230 may be provided to the network entity 105-a, such as in the QoE measurement report 220. In some aspects, QoE measurements and reporting may be configured for sidelink communications (e.g., PC5 direct communications) to enable QoE measurement collection for sidelink communications. In further aspects, QoE measurements and reporting may be configured for layer-3 (L3) -based UE-to-network (U2N) relay operations to enable QoE measurement collection for Layer-3 based U2N relay sidelink communications. In still further aspects, QoE measurements and reporting may be configured for L2 based U2N relay sidelink communications to enable QoE measurement collection for Layer-2 based U2N relay sidelink communications. FIGs. 3 through 7 describe various exemplary techniques for QoE measurement configuration and reporting for sidelink communications.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a process flow 300 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the process flow 300 may implement or be implemented by aspects of UEs and network entities as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. For example, the process flow 300 may be implemented by a OAM/core network (CN) 305, a network entity 105-b, a first UE 115-c, and a second UE 115-d, which may be examples of corresponding devices as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. The process flow 300 may be implemented by the OAM/CN 305, network entity 105-b, and the UEs 115 to exchange signaling to promote reliable communications that meet QoE targets for one or more services that are provided via sidelink communications. In the following description of the process flow 300, the operations between the OAM/CN 305, network entity 105-b, the first UE 115-c, and the second UE 115-d, may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the OAM/CN 305, network entity 105-b, the first UE 115-c, and the second UE 115-d, may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted from the process flow 300, and other operations may be added to the process flow 300.

At 310, the OAM/CN 305 may provide a QoE configuration for a PC5 link to the network entity 105-b. For example, a measurement collection entity (MCE) may indicate one or more configurations for container-based QoE, and may indicate to the network entity 105-b whether each QoE configuration is applied for sidelink communications (e.g., PC5 direct communication) .

At 315, the network entity 105-b may transmit a QoE configuration to the first UE 115-c. The QoE configuration may be transmitted using RRC signaling via the access link (e.g., Uu link) with the first UE 115-c. In some cases, the network entity 105-b may indicate to the first UE 115-c whether each QoE configuration is applied for sidelink communications. In some cases, the first UE 115-c may collect and report QoE measurements based on its own measurements of a sidelink connection with the second UE 115-d, and the QoE configuration may not need to be provided to the second UE 115-d. In other cases, the first UE 115-c may provide a QoE configuration to the second UE 115-d.

At 320, in cases where the QoE configuration is provided to the second UE 115-d, the first UE 115-c may forward the QoE configurations to the second UE 115-d. The QoE configuration may be provided, for example, via PC5 RRC signaling for the sidelink connection between the first UE 115-c and the second UE 115-d.

At 325-a and 325-b, one or both of the first UE 115-c and the second UE 115-d may collect QoE measurements. For example, a receiving UE application layer may retrieve interface information (e.g., PC5 interface information) from a NAS layer and collect QoE measurements for the interface (e.g., PC5 interface) . The receiving UE application layer may include the interface information (e.g., PC5 interface information) into a QoE report container and deliver it to the receiving UE access stratum (AS) layer.

At 330, in cases where the second UE 115-d reports QoE, the second UE 115-d may forward the QoE report container to the first UE 115-c (e.g., transmitting UE) using a sidelink RRC message (e.g., a PC5 RRC message) . At 335, the first UE 115-c may forward the QoE report container to the network entity 105-b. In cases where the QoE report container is received from the second UE 115-d, the first UE 115-c may forward the received QoE report container. In cases where the first UE 115-c collects its own QoE measurements, the first UE 115-c may forward its own QoE report container. The QoE report may be transmitted, for example, in one or more RRC messages via the Uu interface.

At 340, the network entity 105-b may forward the QoE report to the OAM/CN 305. In some cases, MCE post processing may be performed on the report, in which the MCE may determine the QoE measurements collected for the sidelink interface (e.g., PC5 interface) , and may adjust one or more parameters to enhance or optimize the sidelink configuration (e.g., modify a transmission resource allocation or transmit bearer configuration, etc. ) .

FIG. 4 shows an example of a process flow 400 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the process flow 400 may implement or be implemented by aspects of UEs and network entities as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. For example, the process flow 400 may be implemented by a MCE 405, a network entity 105-c, a first UE 115-e, and a second UE 115-f, which may be examples of corresponding devices as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. The process flow 400 may be implemented by the MCE 405, network entity 105-c, and the UEs 115 to exchange signaling to promote reliable communications that meet QoE targets for one or more services that are provided via sidelink communications. In the following description of the process flow 400, the operations between the MCE 405, network entity 105-c, the first UE 115-e, and the second UE 115-f, may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the MCE 405, network entity 105-c, the first UE 115-e, and the second UE 115-f, may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted from the process flow 400, and other operations may be added to the process flow 400.

At 410, the MCE 405 may provide QoE assistance information to the network entity 105-c. For example, the MCE may indicate one or more configurations for RVQoE, and may indicate to the network entity 105-c that the QoE assistance information is for sidelink communications (e.g., indicates that the RVQoE assistance information is to be used for PC5 RVQoE collection to the network entity 105-c) .

At 415, the network entity 105-c may transmit a QoE configuration to the first UE 115-e. The QoE configuration may be transmitted using RRC signaling via the access link (e.g., Uu link) with the first UE 115-e. In some cases, the network entity 105-c may indicate to the first UE 115-e that the RVQoE configuration is for usage on the PC5 interface. In some cases, the first UE 115-e may collect and report QoE measurements based on its own measurements of a sidelink connection with the second UE 115-f, and the QoE configuration may not need to be provided to the second UE 115-f. In other cases, the first UE 115-e may provide a QoE configuration to the second UE 115-f.

At 420, in cases where the QoE configuration is provided to the second UE 115-f, the first UE 115-e may forward the QoE configuration (s) to the second UE 115-f. The QoE configuration may be provided, for example, via PC5 RRC signaling for the sidelink connection between the first UE 115-e and the second UE 115-f.

At 425-a and 425-b, one or both of the first UE 115-e and the second UE 115-f may collect QoE measurements. For example, a receiving UE application layer may collect RVQoE measurements and indicate the assistance information to the AS layer along with the RVQoE measurements. In some cases, the assistance information may include one or more of a sidelink Bearer ID, a PFI, application information (e.g., application, IP address) , or any combinations thereof.

At 430, in cases where the second UE 115-f reports QoE, the second UE 115-f may forward the RVQoE measurements along with assistance information to the first UE 115-e (e.g., transmitting UE) using a sidelink RRC message (e.g., a PC5 RRC message) . In cases where the first UE 115-e reports its own QoE measurements, it may obtain the collected RVQoE measurements and assistance information (e.g., from the application layer) . At 435, the first UE 115-e may derive one or more of a PFI, sidelink bearer ID, or resource allocation mode.

At 440, the first UE 115-e may forward the QoE report to the network entity 105-c. In some cases, the QoE report may be provided using RRC signaling via a Uu link. In some cases, the network entity 105-c may process the RVQoE measurements and may determine may adjust one or more parameters to enhance or optimize the sidelink configuration (e.g., modify one or more of a transmission resource allocation, a sidelink data radio bearer (DRB) configuration, or a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration) .

FIG. 5 shows an example of a process flow 500 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the process flow 500 may implement or be implemented by aspects of UEs and network entities as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. For example, the process flow 500 may be implemented by a CN 505, a network entity 105-d, a first UE 115-g, and a second UE 115-h, which may be examples of corresponding devices as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. The process flow 500 may be implemented by the CN 505, network entity 105-d, and the UEs 115 to exchange signaling to promote reliable communications that meet QoE targets for one or more services that are provided via sidelink communications. In the following description of the process flow 500, the operations between the CN 505, network entity 105-d, the first UE 115-g, and the second UE 115-h, may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the CN 505, network entity 105-d, the first UE 115-g, and the second UE 115-h, may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted from the process flow 500, and other operations may be added to the process flow 500.

In this example, signaling-based QoE activation is provided for a sidelink connection between the first UE 115-g and the second UE 115-h, where the second UE 115-h is a remote UE that communicates with the network entity 105-c via the first UE 115-g acting as a relay UE. At 510, the CN 505 (e.g., an access and mobility function (AMF) at the CN) may provide a remote ID to the network entity 105-d when providing QoE configuration information (e.g., one or more configurations for container-based QoE) to the network entity 105-d for the associated relay UE, which is the first UE 115-g in this example.

At 515, the network entity 105-d may transmit a QoE configuration to the first UE 115-g. The QoE configuration may be transmitted using RRC signaling via the access link (e.g., Uu link) with the first UE 115-g. In some cases, the network entity 105-d may indicate to the first UE 115-g the intended remote UE identification (e.g., an identification of the second UE 115-h, which may include a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI) or a prose remote user key ID (PRUK-ID) ) .

At 520, the first UE 115-g may forward the QoE configuration to the second UE 115-h. The QoE configuration may be provided, for example, via PC5 RRC signaling for the sidelink connection between the first UE 115-g and the second UE 115-h. The QoE configuration may be provided with container information, service type, and UE identification (e.g., RRC ID) for the second UE 115-h.

At 525, the second UE 115-h may collect QoE measurements. For example, a UE application layer may collect QoE measurements. At 530, the second UE 115-h may forward a QoE report including the QoE measurements to the first UE 115-g (e.g., relay UE) using a sidelink RRC message (e.g., a PC5 RRC message) .

At 535, the first UE 115-g may forward the QoE report container to the network entity 105-d. In some cases, the QoE report may be provided using RRC signaling via a Uu link. At 540, the network entity 105-d may forward the QoE report to the CN 505. In some cases, post processing may be performed based on the report, in which the CN 505 may determine the QoE measurements collected for the sidelink interface (e.g., PC5 interface) , and may adjust one or more parameters to enhance or optimize the sidelink configuration (e.g., modify a transmission resource allocation or transmit bearer configuration, etc. ) .

FIG. 6 shows an example of a process flow 600 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the process flow 600 may implement or be implemented by aspects of UEs and network entities as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. For example, the process flow 600 may be implemented by a OAM 605, a network entity 105-e, a first UE 115-i, and a second UE 115-j, which may be examples of corresponding devices as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. The process flow 600 may be implemented by the OAM 605, network entity 105-e, and the UEs 115 to exchange signaling to promote reliable communications that meet QoE targets for one or more services that are provided via sidelink communications. In the following description of the process flow 600, the operations between the OAM 605, network entity 105-e, the first UE 115-i, and the second UE 115-j, may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the OAM 605, network entity 105-e, the first UE 115-i, and the second UE 115-j, may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted from the process flow 600, and other operations may be added to the process flow 600.

In this example, management-based QoE activation is provided for a sidelink connection between the first UE 115-i and the second UE 115-j, where the second UE 115-j is a remote UE that communicates with the network entity 105-c via the first UE 115-i acting as a relay UE. At 610, the OAM 605 may provide QoE configuration information (e.g., one or more configurations for container-based QoE) to the network entity 105-e for the associated relay UE, which is the first UE 115-i in this example.

At 615, the network entity 105-e may transmit a QoE configuration to the first UE 115-i. The QoE configuration may be transmitted using RRC signaling via the access link (e.g., Uu link) with the first UE 115-i. In some cases, the network entity 105-e may indicate to the first UE 115-i that the configuration is to be provided to remote UEs.

At 620, the first UE 115-i may select one or more remote UEs that are to receive the QoE configuration information. In some cases, the remote UEs may include the second UE 115-j, and may be selected based on a reported capability of the remote UEs (e.g., in a capability report from each UE) to provide QoE measurement reports for sidelink connections.

At 625, the first UE 115-i may forward the QoE configuration to the second UE 115-j. The QoE configuration may be provided, for example, via PC5 RRC signaling for the sidelink connection between the first UE 115-i and the second UE 115-j. The QoE configuration may be provided with container information, service type, and UE identification (e.g., RRC ID) for the second UE 115-j.

At 630, the second UE 115-j may collect QoE measurements. For example, a UE application layer may collect QoE measurements. At 635, the second UE 115-j may forward a QoE report including the QoE measurements to the first UE 115-i (e.g., relay UE) using a sidelink RRC message (e.g., a PC5 RRC message) .

At 640, the first UE 115-i may forward the QoE report container to the network entity 105-e. In some cases, the QoE report may be provided using RRC signaling via a Uu link. At 645, the network entity 105-e may forward the QoE report to the OAM 605. In some cases, post processing may be performed based on the report, and one or more parameters may be adjusted to enhance or optimize the sidelink configuration (e.g., modify a transmission resource allocation (e.g., for a sidelink resource pool) or transmit bearer configuration, etc. ) .

FIG. 7 shows an example of a process flow 700 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the process flow 700 may implement or be implemented by aspects of UEs and network entities as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. For example, the process flow 700 may be implemented by a MCE 705, a network entity 105-f, a first UE 115-k, and a second UE 115-l, which may be examples of corresponding devices as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. The process flow 700 may be implemented by the MCE 705, network entity 105-f, and the UEs 115 to exchange signaling to promote reliable communications that meet QoE targets for one or more services that are provided via sidelink communications. In the following description of the process flow 700, the operations between the MCE 705, network entity 105-f, the first UE 115-k, and the second UE 115-l, may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the MCE 705, network entity 105-f, the first UE 115-k, and the second UE 115-l, may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted from the process flow 700, and other operations may be added to the process flow 700.

In this example, QoE may be provided for L3 based U2N relay communications for sidelink. As discussed herein such reporting may be for container-based QoE reporting, or for RVQoE reporting. At 710, the second UE 115-l may collect QoE measurements. For example, a UE application layer may collect QoE measurements. At 715, the second UE 115-l may forward a QoE report, or RVQoE report, including the QoE measurements to the first UE 115-k (e.g., relay UE) using a sidelink RRC message (e.g., a PC5 RRC message) . In cases where a QoE report container is present, the second UE 115-l may include the RRC ID in the RRC message and send the QoE report to the Relay UE. In cases where RVQoE is provided, the second UE 115-l may include a SL Bearer ID, PFI, and application information (e.g., an application ID, IP address) , with the RVQoE report. In some cases, the QoE report may be provided in an RRC message that is defined for such QoE reports.

At 720, the first UE 115-k may forward the QoE report container, or RVQoE report, to the network entity 105-f. In some cases, the QoE report container or RVQoE report may be provided using RRC signaling via a Uu link. In cases where a QoE report container is present, the first UE 115-k may include the RRC ID received from the second UE 115-l. Additionally, in some cases, the first UE 115-k may include the UE ID of the second UE 115-l. In cases where RVQoE is provided, the first UE 115-k may derive assistance information (e.g., resource allocation mode, sidelink SL DRB configuration information, PFI) , for forwarding with the RVQoE report to the network entity 105-f. Optionally, the first UE 115-k lay indicate the UE ID of the second UE 115-l with the QoE report.

At 725, the network entity 105-f may forward the QoE report to the MCE 705. In some cases, post processing may be performed based on the report, and one or more parameters may be adjusted to enhance or optimize the sidelink configuration (e.g., modify a transmission resource allocation (e.g., for a sidelink resource pool) or transmit bearer configuration, etc. ) .

In some aspects, one or more of the described QoE reports may provide an indication of a communication mode for sidelink UEs. For example, an indication may be provided that the QoE collection is for PC5 direct communication, L2 U2N relay communication, or L3 U2N relay communication. In some cases, for container QoE, the UE may indicate the communication mode in the container for each measurement. In some cases, for RVQoE, the UE may indicate the communication mode in a RRC message.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram 800 of a device 805 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 805 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 805 may include a receiver 810, a transmitter 815, and a communications manager 820. The device 805, or one or more components of the device 805 (e.g., the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, and the communications manager 820) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 810 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 805. The receiver 810 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 815 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 805. For example, the transmitter 815 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication) . In some examples, the transmitter 815 may be co-located with a receiver 810 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 815 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein. For example, the communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, the communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , a central processing unit (CPU) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .

Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor. If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 820, the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .

In some examples, the communications manager 820 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or both. For example, the communications manager 820 may receive information from the receiver 810, send information to the transmitter 815, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 820 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 820 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The communications manager 820 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for obtaining a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the QoE measurement configuration. The communications manager 820 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements.

By including or configuring the communications manager 820 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 805 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 810, the transmitter 815, the communications manager 820, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for QoE measurement configuration and reporting for services provided using sidelink communications, which may provide for improved communication reliability, reduced latency, and improved user experience.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a device 905 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of a device 805 or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a transmitter 915, and a communications manager 920. The device 905, or one of more components of the device 905 (e.g., the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, and the communications manager 920) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 910 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 915 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 905. For example, the transmitter 915 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication) . In some examples, the transmitter 915 may be co-located with a receiver 910 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 915 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The device 905, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein. For example, the communications manager 920 may include a QoE configuration manager 925, a QoE measurement manager 930, a sidelink QoE report manager 935, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 920 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 820 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 920, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both. For example, the communications manager 920 may receive information from the receiver 910, send information to the transmitter 915, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 920 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The QoE configuration manager 925 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The QoE measurement manager 930 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for obtaining a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the QoE measurement configuration. The sidelink QoE report manager 935 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a communications manager 1020 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1020 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 820, a communications manager 920, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 1020, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1020 may include a QoE configuration manager 1025, a QoE measurement manager 1030, a sidelink QoE report manager 1035, a QoE assistance information manager 1040, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The communications manager 1020 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The QoE configuration manager 1025 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The QoE measurement manager 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for obtaining a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the QoE measurement configuration. The sidelink QoE report manager 1035 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements. In some examples, the QoE measurement configuration is received from a network entity using an access link connection, and the QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE is transmitted to the network entity using the access link connection.

In some examples, the QoE configuration manager 1025 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving signaling indicating that the QoE measurement configuration is applied for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection. In some examples, the QoE configuration manager 1025 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting the QoE measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection.

In some examples, to support obtaining the set of QoE measurements, the QoE measurement manager 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from the second UE using the sidelink connection, the set of QoE measurements as measured at the second UE. In some examples, to support obtaining the set of QoE measurements, the QoE measurement manager 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from an application layer at the first UE, the set of QoE measurements as measured at the application layer the first UE for the sidelink connection with the second UE.

In some examples, the sidelink QoE report manager 1035 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for providing a sidelink connection interface indication and the set of QoE measurements of the second UE to an access stratum layer of the first UE for transmission in the QoE measurement report. In some examples, to support receiving, the QoE configuration manager 1025 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, a set of multiple radio access network visible QoE parameters associated with the QoE measurement report, and an indication that the set of multiple radio access network visible QoE parameters are associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE.

In some examples, to support obtaining the set of QoE measurements, the QoE assistance information manager 1040 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for obtaining assistance information and a set of multiple radio access network visible QoE measurements from a relay UE. In some examples, the assistance information includes one or more of a sidelink connection flow ID, a sidelink bearer ID, an application ID, an application Internet protocol address, or any combinations thereof.

In some examples, the QoE measurement manager 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for determining one or more QoE parameters based on the QoE measurement configuration, the one or more QoE parameters including one or more of a container identification, service type indication, radio resource control identification, or a UE identification of the second UE. In some examples, the sidelink QoE report manager 1035 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting the one or more QoE parameters to the second UE.

In some examples, the QoE measurement configuration includes an indication of whether the first UE is to forward the configuration to one or more remote UEs, and the QoE configuration manager 1025 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting the QoE measurement configuration to at least the second UE responsive to a determination that the second UE has a capability to provide QoE measurement reports. In some examples, the obtaining the set of QoE measurements includes receiving, from the second UE, a QoE report container in a radio resource control message from the second UE using the sidelink connection. In some examples, the transmitting the QoE measurement report includes transmitting the QoE report container to a network entity using an access link connection.

In some examples, the obtaining the set of QoE measurements includes receiving, from the second UE, a radio access network visible QoE report in a radio resource control message from the second UE using the sidelink connection. In some examples, the transmitting the QoE measurement report includes deriving assistance information associated with the QoE report and the identification of the second UE, and transmitting the QoE report and assistance information to a network entity using an access link connection, where the assistance information includes one or more of a resource allocation mode associated with the sidelink connection, a sidelink data radio bearer configuration, or a sidelink connection flow ID.

In some examples, the QoE measurement report provides one or more of an indication that the set of QoE measurements are associated with direct communications with the second UE using the sidelink connection, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-2 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-3 UE-to-network relay for the second UE; an indication of a container associated with the set of QoE measurements, or an indication in a radio resource control signaling message that the QoE measurement report includes a radio access network visible set of QoE measurements.

FIG. 11 shows a diagram of a system 1100 including a device 1105 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1105 may be an example of or include the components of a device 805, a device 905, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 1105 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof. The device 1105 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 1120, an input/output (I/O) controller 1110, a transceiver 1115, an antenna 1125, at least one memory 1130, code 1135, and at least one processor 1140. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1145) .

The I/O controller 1110 may manage input and output signals for the device 1105. The I/O controller 1110 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device 1105. In some cases, the I/O controller 1110 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, the I/O controller 1110 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. Additionally or alternatively, the I/O controller 1110 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/O controller 1110 may be implemented as part of one or more processors, such as the at least one processor 1140. In some cases, a user may interact with the device 1105 via the I/O controller 1110 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 1110.

In some cases, the device 1105 may include a single antenna 1125. However, in some other cases, the device 1105 may have more than one antenna 1125, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 1115 may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 1125, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 1115 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1115 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 1125 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 1125. The transceiver 1115, or the transceiver 1115 and one or more antennas 1125, may be an example of a transmitter 815, a transmitter 915, a receiver 810, a receiver 910, or any combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein.

The at least one memory 1130 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The at least one memory 1130 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1135 including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor 1140, cause the device 1105 to perform various functions described herein. The code 1135 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 1135 may not be directly executable by the at least one processor 1140 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 1130 may contain, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The at least one processor 1140 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 1140 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the at least one processor 1140. The at least one processor 1140 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the at least one memory 1130) to cause the device 1105 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication) . For example, the device 1105 or a component of the device 1105 may include at least one processor 1140 and at least one memory 1130 coupled with or to the at least one processor 1140, the at least one processor 1140 and at least one memory 1130 configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 1140 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1130 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 1140 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 1140) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 1130) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. As such, the at least one processor 1140 or a processing system including the at least one processor 1140 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 1105 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code stored in the at least one memory 1130 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.

The communications manager 1120 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1120 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The communications manager 1120 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for obtaining a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the QoE measurement configuration. The communications manager 1120 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements.

By including or configuring the communications manager 1120 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1105 may support techniques for QoE measurement configuration and reporting for services provided using sidelink communications, which may provide for improved communication reliability, reduced latency, and improved user experience.

In some examples, the communications manager 1120 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 1115, the one or more antennas 1125, or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 1120 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 1120 may be supported by or performed by the at least one processor 1140, the at least one memory 1130, the code 1135, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 1135 may include instructions executable by the at least one processor 1140 to cause the device 1105 to perform various aspects of QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein, or the at least one processor 1140 and the at least one memory 1130 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram 1200 of a device 1205 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1205 may be an example of aspects of a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1205 may include a receiver 1210, a transmitter 1215, and a communications manager 1220. The device 1205, or one or more components of the device 1205 (e.g., the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, and the communications manager 1220) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 1210 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 1205. In some examples, the receiver 1210 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 1210 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

The transmitter 1215 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 1205. For example, the transmitter 1215 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some examples, the transmitter 1215 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 1215 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 1215 and the receiver 1210 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.

The communications manager 1220, the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1220, the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, the communications manager 1220, the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .

Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 1220, the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor. If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 1220, the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .

In some examples, the communications manager 1220 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, or both. For example, the communications manager 1220 may receive information from the receiver 1210, send information to the transmitter 1215, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 1220 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the QoE measurement configuration indicates a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported. The communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving from the first UE, a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of QoE measurements.

By including or configuring the communications manager 1220 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1205 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 1210, the transmitter 1215, the communications manager 1220, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for QoE measurement configuration and reporting for services provided using sidelink communications, which may provide for improved communication reliability, reduced latency, and improved user experience.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram 1300 of a device 1305 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1305 may be an example of aspects of a device 1205 or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1305 may include a receiver 1310, a transmitter 1315, and a communications manager 1320. The device 1305, or one of more components of the device 1305 (e.g., the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, and the communications manager 1320) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 1310 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 1305. In some examples, the receiver 1310 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 1310 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

The transmitter 1315 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 1305. For example, the transmitter 1315 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some examples, the transmitter 1315 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 1315 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 1315 and the receiver 1310 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.

The device 1305, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1320 may include a QoE configuration manager 1325 a sidelink QoE report manager 1330, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 1320 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 1220 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 1320, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or both. For example, the communications manager 1320 may receive information from the receiver 1310, send information to the transmitter 1315, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 1320 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The QoE configuration manager 1325 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the QoE measurement configuration indicates a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported. The sidelink QoE report manager 1330 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving from the first UE, a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of QoE measurements.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram 1400 of a communications manager 1420 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1420 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 1220, a communications manager 1320, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 1420, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1420 may include a QoE configuration manager 1425, a sidelink QoE report manager 1430, a QoE measurement manager 1435, a QoE assistance information manager 1440, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) which may include communications within a protocol layer of a protocol stack, communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack, within a device, component, or virtualized component associated with a network entity 105, between devices, components, or virtualized components associated with a network entity 105) , or any combination thereof.

The communications manager 1420 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The QoE configuration manager 1425 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the QoE measurement configuration indicates a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported. The sidelink QoE report manager 1430 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving from the first UE, a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of QoE measurements.

In some examples, the QoE measurement configuration is transmitted to the first UE using an access link connection, and the QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE is received from the first UE using the access link connection. In some examples, the QoE configuration manager 1425 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting signaling indicating that the QoE measurement configuration is for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection. In some examples, the QoE measurement configuration indicates that the first UE is to transmit the QoE measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection. In some examples, the set of QoE measurements are measured at an application layer at the first UE or the second UE for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE. In some examples, the QoE measurement report includes an indication that the set of QoE measurements are associated with the second UE.

In some examples, to support transmitting the QoE measurement configuration, the QoE configuration manager 1425 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to the first UE, a set of multiple RVQoE parameters associated with the QoE measurement report, and an indication that the set of multiple radio access network visible QoE parameters are associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE. In some examples, the QoE measurement report includes assistance information and a set of multiple RVQoE measurements of the first UE, and where the assistance information includes one or more of a sidelink connection flow ID, a sidelink bearer ID, an application ID, an application Internet protocol address, or any combinations thereof.

In some examples, the QoE measurement configuration includes an indication of whether the first UE is to forward the configuration to one or more remote UEs. In some examples, the QoE measurement report provides one or more of an indication that the set of QoE measurements are associated with direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-2 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-3 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication of a container associated with the set of QoE measurements, or an indication in a radio resource control signaling message that the QoE measurement report includes a radio access network visible set of QoE measurements.

FIG. 15 shows a diagram of a system 1500 including a device 1505 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1505 may be an example of or include the components of a device 1205, a device 1305, or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1505 may communicate with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof, which may include communications over one or more wired interfaces, over one or more wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. The device 1505 may include components that support outputting and obtaining communications, such as a communications manager 1520, a transceiver 1510, an antenna 1515, at least one memory 1525, code 1530, and at least one processor 1535. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1540) .

The transceiver 1510 may support bi-directional communications via wired links, wireless links, or both as described herein. In some examples, the transceiver 1510 may include a wired transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wired transceiver. Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples, the transceiver 1510 may include a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. In some examples, the device 1505 may include one or more antennas 1515, which may be capable of transmitting or receiving wireless transmissions (e.g., concurrently) . The transceiver 1510 may also include a modem to modulate signals, to provide the modulated signals for transmission (e.g., by one or more antennas 1515, by a wired transmitter) , to receive modulated signals (e.g., from one or more antennas 1515, from a wired receiver) , and to demodulate signals. In some implementations, the transceiver 1510 may include one or more interfaces, such as one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1515 that are configured to support various receiving or obtaining operations, or one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1515 that are configured to support various transmitting or outputting operations, or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1510 may include or be configured for coupling with one or more processors or one or more memory components that are operable to perform or support operations based on received or obtained information or signals, or to generate information or other signals for transmission or other outputting, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1510, or the transceiver 1510 and the one or more antennas 1515, or the transceiver 1510 and the one or more antennas 1515 and one or more processors or one or more memory components (e.g., the at least one processor 1535, the at least one memory 1525, or both) , may be included in a chip or chip assembly that is installed in the device 1505. In some examples, the transceiver 1510 may be operable to support communications via one or more communications links (e.g., a communication link 125, a backhaul communication link 120, a midhaul communication link 162, a fronthaul communication link 168) .

The at least one memory 1525 may include RAM, ROM, or any combination thereof. The at least one memory 1525 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1530 including instructions that, when executed by one or more of the at least one processor 1535, cause the device 1505 to perform various functions described herein. The code 1530 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 1530 may not be directly executable by a processor of the at least one processor 1535 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 1525 may contain, among other things, a BIOS which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices. In some examples, the at least one processor 1535 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1525 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein (for example, as part of a processing system) .

The at least one processor 1535 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 1535 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into one or more of the at least one processor 1535. The at least one processor 1535 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., one or more of the at least one memory 1525) to cause the device 1505 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication) . For example, the device 1505 or a component of the device 1505 may include at least one processor 1535 and at least one memory 1525 coupled with one or more of the at least one processor 1535, the at least one processor 1535 and the at least one memory 1525 configured to perform various functions described herein. The at least one processor 1535 may be an example of a cloud-computing platform (e.g., one or more physical nodes and supporting software such as operating systems, virtual machines, or container instances) that may host the functions (e.g., by executing code 1530) to perform the functions of the device 1505. The at least one processor 1535 may be any one or more suitable processors capable of executing scripts or instructions of one or more software programs stored in the device 1505 (such as within one or more of the at least one memory 1525) . In some examples, the at least one processor 1535 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1525 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 1535 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 1535) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 1525) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. As such, the at least one processor 1535 or a processing system including the at least one processor 1535 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 1505 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code stored in the at least one memory 1525 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, a bus 1540 may support communications of (e.g., within) a protocol layer of a protocol stack. In some examples, a bus 1540 may support communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack) , which may include communications performed within a component of the device 1505, or between different components of the device 1505 that may be co-located or located in different locations (e.g., where the device 1505 may refer to a system in which one or more of the communications manager 1520, the transceiver 1510, the at least one memory 1525, the code 1530, and the at least one processor 1535 may be located in one of the different components or divided between different components) .

In some examples, the communications manager 1520 may manage aspects of communications with a core network 130 (e.g., via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links) . For example, the communications manager 1520 may manage the transfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115. In some examples, the communications manager 1520 may manage communications with other network entities 105, and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with other network entities 105. In some examples, the communications manager 1520 may support an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wireless communications network technology to provide communication between network entities 105.

The communications manager 1520 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1520 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the QoE measurement configuration indicates a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported. The communications manager 1520 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving from the first UE, a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of QoE measurements.

By including or configuring the communications manager 1520 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1505 may support techniques for QoE measurement configuration and reporting for services provided using sidelink communications, which may provide for improved communication reliability, reduced latency, and improved user experience.

In some examples, the communications manager 1520 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 1510, the one or more antennas 1515 (e.g., where applicable) , or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 1520 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 1520 may be supported by or performed by the transceiver 1510, one or more of the at least one processor 1535, one or more of the at least one memory 1525, the code 1530, or any combination thereof (for example, by a processing system including at least a portion of the at least one processor 1535, the at least one memory 1525, the code 1530, or any combination thereof) . For example, the code 1530 may include instructions executable by one or more of the at least one processor 1535 to cause the device 1505 to perform various aspects of QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication as described herein, or the at least one processor 1535 and the at least one memory 1525 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1600 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1600 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 11. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1605, the method may include receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The operations of block 1605 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1605 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1610, the method may include obtaining a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the QoE measurement configuration. The operations of block 1610 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1610 may be performed by a QoE measurement manager 1030 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1615, the method may include transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements. The operations of block 1615 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1035 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1700 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1700 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 11. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1705, the method may include receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The operations of block 1705 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1705 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1710, the method may include receiving signaling indicating that the QoE measurement configuration is applied for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection. The operations of block 1710 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1710 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1715, the method may include obtaining a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the QoE measurement configuration. The operations of block 1715 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1715 may be performed by a QoE measurement manager 1030 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1720, the method may include transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements. The operations of block 1720 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1720 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1035 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1800 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1800 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 11. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1805, the method may include receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The operations of block 1805 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1805 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1810, the method may include transmitting the QoE measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection. The operations of block 1810 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1810 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1815, the method may include receiving, from the second UE using the sidelink connection, the set of QoE measurements as measured at the second UE. The operations of block 1815 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1815 may be performed by a QoE measurement manager 1030 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1820, the method may include transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements. The operations of block 1820 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1820 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1035 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1900 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1900 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 11. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1905, the method may include receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The operations of block 1905 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1905 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1910, the method may include receiving, from an application layer at the first UE, the set of QoE measurements as measured at the application layer the first UE for the sidelink connection with the second UE. The operations of block 1910 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1910 may be performed by a QoE measurement manager 1030 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 1915, the method may include transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements. The operations of block 1915 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1915 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1035 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2000 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 2000 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 2000 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 11. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 2005, the method may include receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The operations of block 2005 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2005 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 2010, the method may include obtaining a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the QoE measurement configuration. The operations of block 2010 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2010 may be performed by a QoE measurement manager 1030 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 2015, the method may include providing a sidelink connection interface indication and the set of QoE measurements of the second UE to an access stratum layer of the first UE for transmission in a QoE measurement report. The operations of block 2015 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2015 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1035 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 2020, the method may include transmitting the QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements. The operations of block 2020 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2020 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1035 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 21 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2100 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 2100 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 2100 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 11. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 2105, the method may include receiving signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE. The operations of block 2105 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2105 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1025 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 2110, the method may include obtaining assistance information and a set of multiple radio access network visible QoE measurements from a relay UE. The operations of block 2110 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2110 may be performed by a QoE assistance information manager 1040 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

At 2115, the method may include transmitting a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based on the set of QoE measurements. The operations of block 2115 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2115 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1035 as described with reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 22 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2200 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 2200 may be implemented by a network entity or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 2200 may be performed by a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 7 and 12 through 15. In some examples, a network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 2205, the method may include transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the QoE measurement configuration indicates a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported. The operations of block 2205 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2205 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1425 as described with reference to FIG. 14.

At 2210, the method may include receiving from the first UE, a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of QoE measurements. The operations of block 2210 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2210 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1430 as described with reference to FIG. 14.

FIG. 23 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2300 that supports QoE measurement collection on sidelink communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 2300 may be implemented by a network entity or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 2300 may be performed by a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 7 and 12 through 15. In some examples, a network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 2305, the method may include transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a QoE measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, where the QoE measurement configuration indicates a set of QoE measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported. The operations of block 2305 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2305 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1425 as described with reference to FIG. 14.

At 2310, the method may include transmitting signaling indicating that the QoE measurement configuration is for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection. The operations of block 2310 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2310 may be performed by a QoE configuration manager 1425 as described with reference to FIG. 14.

At 2315, the method may include receiving from the first UE, a QoE measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of QoE measurements. The operations of block 2315 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2315 may be performed by a sidelink QoE report manager 1430 as described with reference to FIG. 14.

The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:

Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication by a first UE, comprising: receiving signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE; obtaining a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based at least in part on the quality of experience measurement configuration; and transmitting a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based at least in part on the set of quality of experience measurements.

Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration is received from a network entity using an access link connection, and the quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE is transmitted to the network entity using the access link connection.

Aspect 3: The method of any of aspects 1 through 2, further comprising: receiving signaling indicating that the quality of experience measurement configuration is applied for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection.

Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 through 3, further comprising: transmitting the quality of experience measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection.

Aspect 5: The method of aspect 4, wherein the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements comprises: receiving, from the second UE using the sidelink connection, the set of quality of experience measurements as measured at the second UE.

Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 5, wherein the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements comprises: receiving, from an application layer at the first UE, the set of quality of experience measurements as measured at the application layer the first UE for the sidelink connection with the second UE.

Aspect 7: The method of any of aspects 1 through 6, further comprising: providing a sidelink connection interface indication and the set of quality of experience measurements of the second UE to an access stratum layer of the first UE for transmission in the quality of experience measurement report.

Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1 through 7, wherein the receiving comprises: receiving, from a network entity, a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters associated with the quality of experience measurement report, and an indication that the plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters are associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE.

Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1 through 8, wherein the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements comprises: obtaining assistance information and a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience measurements from a relay UE.

Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, wherein the assistance information includes one or more of a sidelink connection flow ID, a sidelink bearer ID, an application ID, an application Internet protocol address, or any combinations thereof.

Aspect 11: The method of any of aspects 1 through 10, further comprising: determining one or more quality of experience parameters based at least in part on the quality of experience measurement configuration, the one or more quality of experience parameters including one or more of a container identification, service type indication, radio resource control identification, or a UE identification of the second UE; and transmitting the one or more quality of experience parameters to the second UE.

Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1 through 11, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration includes an indication of whether the first UE is to forward the configuration to one or more remote UEs; and wherein the method further comprises: transmitting the quality of experience measurement configuration to at least the second UE responsive to a determination that the second UE has a capability to provide quality of experience measurement reports.

Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 1 through 12, wherein the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements comprises receiving, from the second UE, a quality of experience report container in a radio resource control message from the second UE using the sidelink connection; and the transmitting the quality of experience measurement report comprises transmitting the quality of experience report container to a network entity using an access link connection.

Aspect 14: The method of any of aspects 1 through 13, wherein the obtaining the set of quality of experience measurements comprises receiving, from the second UE, a radio access network visible quality of experience report in a radio resource control message from the second UE using the sidelink connection; and the transmitting the quality of experience measurement report comprises deriving assistance information associated with the quality of experience report and the identification of the second UE, and transmitting the quality of experience report and assistance information to a network entity using an access link connection, wherein the assistance information includes one or more of a resource allocation mode associated with the sidelink connection, a sidelink data radio bearer configuration, or a sidelink connection flow ID.

Aspect 15: The method of any of aspects 1 through 14, wherein the quality of experience measurement report provides one or more of an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements are associated with direct communications with the second UE using the sidelink connection, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-2 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-3 UE-to-network relay for the second UE; an indication of a container associated with the set of quality of experience measurements, or an indication in a radio resource control signaling message that the quality of experience measurement report includes a radio access network visible set of quality of experience measurements.

Aspect 16: A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: transmitting, to a first UE, signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported; and receiving from the first UE, a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of quality of experience measurements.

Aspect 17: The method of aspect 16, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration is transmitted to the first UE using an access link connection, and the quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE is received from the first UE using the access link connection.

Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 16 through 17, further comprising: transmitting signaling indicating that the quality of experience measurement configuration is for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection.

Aspect 19: The method of any of aspects 16 through 18, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates that the first UE is to transmit the quality of experience measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection.

Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 16 through 19, wherein the set of quality of experience measurements are measured at an application layer at the first UE or the second UE for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE.

Aspect 21: The method of any of aspects 16 through 20, wherein the quality of experience measurement report includes an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements are associated with the second UE.

Aspect 22: The method of any of aspects 16 through 21, wherein the transmitting the quality of experience measurement configuration comprises: transmitting, to the first UE, a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters associated with the quality of experience measurement report, and an indication that the plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters are associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE.

Aspect 23: The method of any of aspects 16 through 22, wherein the quality of experience measurement report includes assistance information and a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience measurements of the first UE, and wherein the assistance information includes one or more of a sidelink connection flow ID, a sidelink bearer ID, an application ID, an application Internet protocol address, or any combinations thereof.

Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 16 through 23, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration includes an indication of whether the first UE is to forward the configuration to one or more remote UEs.

Aspect 25: The method of any of aspects 16 through 24, wherein the quality of experience measurement report provides one or more of an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements are associated with direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-2 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-3 UE-to-network relay for the second UE; an indication of a container associated with the set of quality of experience measurements, or an indication in a radio resource control signaling message that the quality of experience measurement report includes a radio access network visible set of quality of experience measurements.

Aspect 26: A first UE for wireless communication, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 15.

Aspect 27: A first UE for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 15.

Aspect 28: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 15.

Aspect 29: A network entity for wireless communication, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to perform a method of any of aspects 16 through 25.

Aspect 30: A network entity for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 16 through 25.

Aspect 31: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 16 through 25.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may be described for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communications systems such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, as well as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor but, in the alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration) . Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a processor may be performed by multiple processors that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.

The functions described herein may be implemented using hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented using software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored as or transmitted using one or more instructions or code of a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) , or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk and Blu-ray disc. Disks may reproduce data magnetically, and discs may reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media. Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a memory may be performed by multiple memories that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) . Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. ”

As used herein, including in the claims, the article “a” before a noun is open-ended and understood to refer to “at least one” of those nouns or “one or more” of those nouns. Thus, the terms “a, ” “at least one, ” “one or more, ” “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. For example, if a claim recites “a component” that performs one or more functions, each of the individual functions may be performed by a single component or by any combination of multiple components. Thus, the term “acomponent” having characteristics or performing functions may refer to “at least one of one or more components” having a particular characteristic or performing a particular function. Subsequent reference to a component introduced with the article “a” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, a component introduced with the article “a” may be understood to mean “one or more components, ” and referring to “the component” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ” Similarly, subsequent reference to a component introduced as “one or more components” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, referring to “the one or more components” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ”

The term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database or another data structure) , ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (e.g., receiving information) , accessing (e.g., accessing data stored in memory) and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, obtaining, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label, or other subsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appended drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration, ” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other examples. ” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

A first user equipment (UE) , comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE;

obtain a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based at least in part on the quality of experience measurement configuration; and

transmit a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based at least in part on the set of quality of experience measurements.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration is received from a network entity using an access link connection, and the quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE is transmitted to the network entity using the access link connection.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive signaling indicating that the quality of experience measurement configuration is applied for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

transmit the quality of experience measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection.
The first UE of claim 4, wherein, to obtain the set of quality of experience measurements, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive, from the second UE using the sidelink connection, the set of quality of experience measurements as measured at the second UE.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein, to obtain the set of quality of experience measurements, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive, from an application layer at the first UE, the set of quality of experience measurements as measured at the application layer the first UE for the sidelink connection with the second UE.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

provide a sidelink connection interface indication and the set of quality of experience measurements of the second UE to an access stratum layer of the first UE for transmission in the quality of experience measurement report.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein, to receive, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive, from a network entity, a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters associated with the quality of experience measurement report, and an indication that the plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters are associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein, to obtain the set of quality of experience measurements, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

obtain assistance information and a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience measurements from a relay UE.
The first UE of claim 9, wherein the assistance information includes one or more of a sidelink connection flow ID, a sidelink bearer ID, an application ID, an application Internet protocol address, or any combinations thereof.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

determine one or more quality of experience parameters based at least in part on the quality of experience measurement configuration, the one or more quality of experience parameters including one or more of a container identification, service type indication, radio resource control identification, or a UE identification of the second UE; and

transmit the one or more quality of experience parameters to the second UE.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration includes an indication of whether the first UE is to forward the configuration to one or more remote UEs, and wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

transmit the quality of experience measurement configuration to at least the second UE responsive to a determination that the second UE has a capability to provide quality of experience measurement reports.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive, from the second UE, a quality of experience report container in a radio resource control message from the second UE using the sidelink connection; and

transmit the quality of experience report container to a network entity using an access link connection.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive, from the second UE, a radio access network visible quality of experience report in a radio resource control message from the second UE using the sidelink connection; and

derive assistance information associated with the quality of experience report and an identification of the second UE, and transmit the quality of experience report and assistance information to a network entity using an access link connection, wherein the assistance information includes one or more of a resource allocation mode associated with the sidelink connection, a sidelink data radio bearer configuration, or a sidelink connection flow ID.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the quality of experience measurement report provides one or more of an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements are associated with direct communications with the second UE using the sidelink connection, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-2 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-3 UE-to-network relay for the second UE; an indication of a container associated with the set of quality of experience measurements, or an indication in a radio resource control signaling message that the quality of experience measurement report includes a radio access network visible set of quality of experience measurements.
A network entity, comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

transmit, to a first user equipment (UE) , signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported; and

receive from the first UE, a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of quality of experience measurements.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration is transmitted to the first UE using an access link connection, and the quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE is received from the first UE using the access link connection.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

transmit signaling indicating that the quality of experience measurement configuration is for direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates that the first UE is to transmit the quality of experience measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein the set of quality of experience measurements are measured at an application layer at the first UE or the second UE for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein the quality of experience measurement report includes an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements are associated with the second UE.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein, to transmit the quality of experience measurement configuration, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

transmit, to the first UE, a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters associated with the quality of experience measurement report, and an indication that the plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters are associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein the quality of experience measurement report includes assistance information and a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience measurements of the first UE, and wherein the assistance information includes one or more of a sidelink connection flow ID, a sidelink bearer ID, an application ID, an application Internet protocol address, or any combinations thereof.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration includes an indication of whether the first UE is to forward the configuration to one or more remote UEs.
The network entity of claim 16, wherein the quality of experience measurement report provides one or more of an indication that the set of quality of experience measurements are associated with direct communications between the first UE and the second UE using the sidelink connection, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-2 UE-to-network relay for the second UE, an indication that the first UE provides a layer-3 UE-to-network relay for the second UE; an indication of a container associated with the set of quality of experience measurements, or an indication in a radio resource control signaling message that the quality of experience measurement report includes a radio access network visible set of quality of experience measurements.
A method for wireless communication by a first user equipment (UE) , comprising:

receiving signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection with a second UE;

obtaining a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection with the second UE based at least in part on the quality of experience measurement configuration; and

transmitting a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection with the second UE based at least in part on the set of quality of experience measurements.
The method of claim 26, further comprising:

transmitting the quality of experience measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection; and

receiving, from the second UE using the sidelink connection, the set of quality of experience measurements as measured at the second UE.
The method of claim 26, wherein the receiving comprises:

receiving, from a network entity, a plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters associated with the quality of experience measurement report, and an indication that the plurality of radio access network visible quality of experience parameters are associated with the sidelink connection with the second UE.
A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising:

transmitting, to a first user equipment (UE) , signaling indicating a quality of experience measurement configuration for a sidelink connection between the first UE and a second UE, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates a set of quality of experience measurements for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that are to be reported; and

receiving from the first UE, a quality of experience measurement report for the sidelink connection between the first UE and the second UE that includes the set of quality of experience measurements.
The method of claim 29, wherein the quality of experience measurement configuration indicates that the first UE is to transmit the quality of experience measurement configuration to the second UE using the sidelink connection.